I didn’t have a desire to learn to drive which I can pinpoint back to being involved in a car accident with my dad when I was very young. Also, living in Singapore and London, public transport is regular, easy to use, cheaper and less stressful than owning your own car.
It was not until I met my husband, Mr C that my view changed. There was one day that he was really ill (but not that ill to be taken by ambulance) and no one was able to drive him to hospital. We had to wait until his friend came over to drive us to the hospital. Until now, I still don’t understand why we didn’t book a cab!
Since that incident, he encouraged me to learn to drive. I was really appreciative of his support by making him change his manual coupé to a semi automatic Vauxhall Corsa (our first car). He also took me out every Sunday morning for additional lessons. Within 3 months, I passed my theory test (including the hazard test – I am the first few who did the test) and the driving test.
In October 2005, I could finally tell everyone that I was the proud owner of this little car. It was a black Vauxhall Corsa 5 door semi automatic 1.2 L 51-plated car. It was small and easy to park. In London, car parking is very tight and we lived in a housing estate where we had to parallel park on curved roads – I absolutely hate them. You don’t want to know how many times I had to drive back and forth, in and out to get into the gaps. Sometimes, I will drive around the estate looking for bigger parking space.
I have lots of good memories with this car:
- It was the first time I drove my parents around, to Bath and around London.
- My dog, Bertie, who we adopted from Battersea Dogs Home came travelling with us to various UK locations.
- We bought our son home from hospital in this car after he was born. It is not until Ms C came along that we decided to trade in for a 7 seater Vauxhall Zafira.
I would like to thank Mr C for his initial persistence and his support throughout for me learning to drive my first car!